Pioneer aviation engineer and pilot Glenn Curtiss was born in Hammondsport, where he built several types of aircraft, and the first seaplanes, which were tested in Keuka Lake.

In 1935, heavy rains lasting three days resulted in mudslides and major flooding, ruining or damaging many homes and structures in Hammondsport, situated at the hillside.

During this time he opened a store on the site of Hammondsport, which sold goods produced by the mills, thus laying the foundation for future business there.

During the 1830s other preachers began arriving and established other churches in Hammondsport, receiving financial assistance and guidance from the American Home Missionary Society.

Subsequently, the demand for fresh grapes in New York increased dramatically, which in turn greatly promoted the wine industry in and around Hammondsport.

The structure is listed in U.S. National Register of Historic Places [17] Among the first physicians to practice medicine in Hammondsport were Dr. Ezekiel B.

[18] The first election of village officers was held November 22, 1856, which included William Hastings as senior trustee, and Orlando Shepard, as the town assessor.

[10] Beginning in 1894 Hammondsport received its first water system from springs that were contained in the Rufus Scofield farm, on Mt.

[23] In 1917, the first telephone office was built in Hammondsport which was needed to accommodate the Curtiss Manufacturing Company with its many business involvements.

[14] In the latter half of the 1800s Hammondsport became the home to various steamboat manufacturers which included A. W. Springstead and the Union Dry Dock Company.

During this time, however, viticulture began to materialize as a new and promising industry, as the temperate climate and well-drained soil along the shores of the lake were ideal for growing grapes.

[30] During the American Civil War, with President Lincoln calling for 300,000 volunteers, the 107th New York Infantry Regiment (nicknamed the Campbell Guards), was mustered.

Young men from Hammondsport, Bath and Elimra who volunteered for service were assigned to Company G of the regiment which was organized in Elmira, NY.

[31][c] Morris Brown, Jr., a once Hammondsport resident, received the Medal of Honor posthumously on March 6, 1869, for his service in the Union Army at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he daringly captured the Confederate flag.

[33][d] By the time World War I began in 1914 the village of Hammondsport included twelve wineries, five grape-packing houses, one barrel making factory, four hotels, five grocery stores, five meat markets, three blacksmiths, two livery stables, five barber shops, three pool halls, three movie houses, two men's clothing stores, three hat shops, three lumber yards, four coal yards, a grist mill, three doctors, two dentists, three lawyers, a chiropractor and a veterinarian and a harness shop, along with the airplane works at the Glenn Curtiss Company.

[34] In 1921, five local men purchased a wood barrel factory just south of the present D.W. Putnam Wine Company, and named it the Aerial Service Corporation.

He was the grandfather of Glenn Hammond Curtiss, the airplane designer who first developed aircraft capable of taking off and landing in water,[37][38] who resided at Hammondsport, where he was born in 1878.

[39] Not long after his father died Curtiss married Lena Pearl Neff in the Hammondsport Presbyterian Church.

In a vacant storefront owned by Mrs. Benjamin Bennett, co-founder of the Hammondsport Herald, he opened up a bicycle shop across from the bandstand on Pulteney Square, which soon grew into a successful business.

Together they built a large building on Kingsley Flats, a low-lying area between the village and the lake and began manufacturing balloons and dirigibles at Hammondsport.

[43][44] Early development of aircraft and seaplanes was carried out by Curtiss in his factory at Hammondsport, and who later had joined with Alexander Graham Bell and others in the Aerial Experiment Association.

On July 4, 1908, the June Bug, was the first American airplane to fly at least 1 km and was flown by Curtiss from the Hammondsport airfield.

[46][38] This aircraft was again flown by Captain Jim Poel, and co-pilot, Lee Sackett, over Keuka Lake during an exhibition at Hammondsport in 2008 and again in 2009.

[50] In 1914 another aviation pioneer, Samuel Langley, brought his plane to Hammondsport to be reconditioned by Curtis and flown in a scientific demonstration [51] After a long and distinguished career in avionics Curtiss died unexpectedly in 1930 at the relatively early age of 52.

[52][53] Today the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, located less than a mile south of Hammondsport on State Road, Rt.

In September of that year, while conducting flying experiments with Orville Wright in Virginia, he was the first member of the military to die in a plane crash.

With more than 8.0 inches (200 mm) of rain in a 48-hour period, the village of Hammondsport was among those that were subjected to wide spread damage and ruin.

During the prolonged heavy rains much water had drained off the adjacent hills and funneled through Glen Brook, which at its end runs parallel between the hillside and Hammondsport before reachingf Keuka Lake.

Great amounts of mud was also deposited on many of the streets, and buried a number of cars, while the railroad line from Bath to Hammondsport was almost completely destroyed.